(selected out of teams we covered this year)

Paul Romanczuk, Archbishop Carroll
27-3 Season, AAA State Championship



Highlights of Archbishop Carroll vs. Neumann-Goretti (beginning)
Highlights of Archbishop Carroll vs. Greensburg Salem (3:21 mark)

Everyone knew the team had talent. But if you looked at the forecasts and the predictions, not many people thought they could pull off what they did.
The Archbishop Carroll Patriots came into the season with something to prove and history to make, and their talent had the potential to achieve those goals. But no matter how talented a team is, it always takes a good coach to make it all come together.

That's where Paul Romanczuk comes in. We are sure he got into this profession to be a championship coach. Championship coaches bring out the best in their players. He did. With all of them. Championship coaches make their players believe they can do things they never did before. Things like beating a team, one Neumann-Goretti, in the State Playoffs, after having fallen to that team 19 straight times before. Things like getting to the State championship game and dominating it in front of basketball fans from all over Pennsylvania.

That's what Paul Romanczuk got his Archbishop Carroll Patriots to do this year. That's why he's a championship coach, and that's why the Patriots, winners of the PIAA AAA title, are a championship team. They proved their point. They made their history (becoming the first Philadelphia Catholic League team to win a state title, in the league's first year of eligibility). But it was the leader who gave them the direction and mentality they needed to get there. So it is with that said that we give Paul Romanczuk Varsity 365 Basketball Coach of the Year honors for the 2009 season. Congratulations, coach.



Runner ups:
Clyde Johnson, Penn Wood
Andre Noble, Imhotep
Tyrone Morris, Girard College
Jim Fenerty, Germantown Academy
Mike Evans, Norristown